This week in Ask Guru: Rental questions
This week, in Ask Guru, we answer questions about rentals: Tenants who can’t pay, utilities for a dual key unit, and being asked to pay commissions as a tenant.
Question 1:
“Hi Gurus. I have a problem. My current tenant told my agent they don’t have enough money to pay for this month’s rental, and they’re asking if they can pay for two months instead next month. I am not comfortable with this. What can I do?”
Our answer: Firstly, what is the relationship between yourself and your tenant? If your tenant has rented from you for a while and has been dutifully paying every month, it might be worth considering allowing your tenant such flexibility. Alternatively, consider asking for a partial payment for this month’s rent first, as a show of goodwill, while collecting the remainder of the rent later. If you’re unable to come to a compromise with your tenant, invoke the non-payment clause on your tenancy agreement to serve your tenant notice, including forfeiture of the security deposit.
Question 2:
“Hi, would love to check with agents here how do I separate dual key utitlies as the unit has only 1 if I rent out to 2 separate tenants? Tried calling SPS they say have to apply through IRAS but IRAS say unable to.”
Our answer: Dual-key units, while popular for rent, are technically under one strata title, which means one single measure for utilities. It’s therefore rather difficult for the utilities between the main unit and the sub-unit to be separated. Your best bet is to split the bills equally between the tenants and hope they agree on that. It might be something to consider adding in to your tenancy agreement going forward.
Question 3:
(This is a rather long question)
“I am a tenant. I called agent “A” who listed an unit on Propertyguru and showed my interest. In the call, agent “A” asked if I was the actual tenant and referred me to his colleague agent “B” and then agent “B” contacted me and arranged the viewing for me.
“After viewing, I was satisfied with the unit and told agent “B” I would rent it. Then agent “B” brought me the Letter of Intent and Tenant Agency Agreement including commission terms (1 month rent for 2yr lease) to sign.
“I did not think much when agent “B” said he was representing me in this case until I learnt tenants might not need an agent if dealing with landlord agent directly through the website.
“Was that a normal practice or I just got set up to pay the commission which was not supposed to pay as a tenant? ”
Our answer: Yup, that is not normal practice. Tenants do not need to engage an agent to represent them, although some may choose to do so to make the process easier for them. At the point of engaging the agent, the commissions payment should be made clear to you. If you did not agree to have an agent represent you, and it was not made clear during negotiations that the agent was speaking for you and therefore owed a commission upon signing the tenancy agreement, you can definitely insist on not paying commission. You may also wish to report this case to the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) for a breach of ethics.
Next week, we answer questions on buying new condo launches! Ask your questions in the comments below, or in our Ask Guru section!
This article was written by Chang Hui Chew, Content Marketing Manager for Singapore.
